THE GOOD LIFE

This time of year, bookshops are often dominated by celebrity biographies. We’ve sought out some alternative versions that dig a bit deeper…

M Train

by Patti Smith (Bloomsbury, £18.99)

In the wonder-filled world of Patti Smith there are signs and portents everywhere. The autobiographical M Train is a lyrical look at a woman who accepts the world’s melancholy and magic, and is determined to find inspiration everywhere, even as she’s grieving for her late husband. For Smith, coffee is an essential consolation, poets are sacred and pilgrimages to Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul or Jean Genet’s grave replenish her quietly suffering soul as she meditates on the best way to live life.